Student Spotlight: John Poncy

Director/Choreographer for “Spring Awakening” with Stars Performing Arts

A Little Background

“My name is John Poncy, and I'm a rising senior at Oakton High School. I've been performing in musicals since I was 7 years old. Looking back over the past 10 years, I’ve rarely had more than a month in between shows, often ending up in two or three at the same time. My training really took a turning point when I was cast as Ralphie in A Christmas Story at Toby’s Dinner Theatre, my first professional job. In our run, I performed the role upwards of 40 times, and I learned first hand the ups and downs of working professionally. I was so honored to receive the Helen Hayes Award that year for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical (Hayes). Since then, I’ve continued to perform at the community, educational, and professional level. Most recently, I spent last summer at The Muny in St. Louis as a part of the Teen Ensemble in The Little Mermaid.”

“My recent projects have led me to explore choreography and direction in addition to performing. Over the past two years, I have choreographed over 15 musicals for a variety of middle schools, high schools, and community theaters in the area. In a full circle moment, I was WATCH nominated for my choreography for a production of A Christmas Story. Through exploring my passion for choreography, I’ve also gotten the opportunity to direct five musicals, and I’m so proud of every opportunity I get to showcase what I love to do.”

What motivated you to direct?

“Even though I started in performing, directing has always been of interest to me. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to direct my first show two years ago, and have loved every second since. Combining my dance background with what I’ve been able to learn from directors I’ve worked under has given me the skillset to successfully mount high-caliber productions, and I believe Spring Awakening is a great example.”

“My experience in professional theatre and performing at The Muny last summer taught me that with adequate preparation and a dedicated cast, productions don’t need a long rehearsal process to be successful. For Spring Awakening, I was inspired to recreate this experience, and am so grateful to have a cast equipped with the talent and dedication necessary to pull off this ridiculously tight rehearsal process bringing this show to life.”

Why did you choose Spring Awakening?

“Spring Awakening has always been a dream show of mine to direct, and STARS seemed like the perfect place to do it. The show is filled with important and timely themes around forced innocence, self-discovery, and the consequences of silence. Being a teen director, I felt energized to take this on and have had the best time building this show with an amazing cast and team. Spring Awakening tackles difficult topics regarding mental health, grief, and societal pressures, and is filled with relevant and powerful messages, especially for teens. This show has allowed me to really dig into the material and further push the important messages through my original staging and choreography.”

What’s your favorite number in the show?

“If you’ve seen any show I’ve directed, you know I love to add dance wherever I can, and this show is no exception. From lyrically-driven movement in numbers like Touch Me to punk-rock inspired choreography in Mama Who Bore Me Reprise, our production of Spring Awakening covers a wide range of styles.

I never thought I would say this, but my favorite moments in Spring Awakening aren’t in the production numbers, but in the scene work. So many of what I think to be the strongest moments in our show come from the dramatic scenes the show offers that I’ve really been able to play with through staging and character work.”

What do you hope audiences take away from this production?

“I hope audiences notice the hard work the cast has put in to the choreography, staging, and music (courtesy of the amazing Matthew Brown). Their work, only further enhanced by Eliot Hetler’s beautiful set, William Waugh’s brilliant lighting, and Lori Crockett’s gorgeous costuming, has resulted in a beautiful production that I think audiences will be blown away by.

I believe our teen cast (and primarily teen-driven creative team) will only further the impact of this story centered around adolescence, and we can’t wait for audiences to see all that we’ve been working on.”

Spring Awakening runs from August 15-16th at the James Lee Community Center; find tickets and more info at theatrestars.org.